Hello there

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Bar Sport
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Hello. My name is Jon Thompson. I've been registered for a while but haven't contributed yet.

I'm a freelance technology writer from the UK with a serious interest in creating independent, intelligent "pets", and in the Arduino itself.

My robotics work focuses on squeezing out the most information from the fewest external components, doing the most possible work with it, and on interesting emergent behaviour that occurs when subsystems collide. I've been using the Pololu Orangutan LV-168, but, though the LCD screen was nice to have, it's no match for 20 I/O lines instead of 8!

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Hi Jon,

I am a new Arduino user based in Surrey. Where abouts are you in the UK?

I'm in the process of expanding my microcontroller experience from Microchip to Atmel, and learning to program in C at the same time.

I like to build minimalist telecom devices, and have an interest in web connected Arduinos sensing and sharing data all over the globe.

G

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Hi guinnessimo (no prizes for guessing your favourite drink!)

I'm in Cheshire. Cold, windy, rainy Cheshire.

If anyone's interested, I posted a short review of Massimo Banzi's new book, "Getting Started with Arduino" to my blog the other day. I really like the do-it-yourself punk ethic behind it. It's something I heartily subscribe to, being an old punk. :wink:

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Jon,

It could just have easily been "TangleFoot-imo" - just what I had handy when deciding upon a username.

Thanks for the review of "Getting Started with Arduino" on your blog.
It's brief postings like this, which draw wider attention to the buzz that is behind this open source project.

What is the success of the Arduino over other small microcontroller boards?

I guess it's because the community has reached a critical mass and whatever your ideas or aspirations for developing a new project - there is always someone out there who has done the trailblazing work already.

There is no reason why the ATmega168 should be any better or worse than similar offerings from Texas Instruments, Microchip or any of a handful of other chip vendors - but when put on a board, with a few other bits, and the momentum of the Arduino community behind it, it certainly seems to exceed the sum of its parts.

BTW. I read from your blog that you have made some initial steps into robotics, and that you like to have fun with silent callers. There's a new product available this year that efficiently dispatches unwanted phone calls - have a look at truecall dot co dot uk

G

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It's interesting, but that Arduino book review gets more hits from Google than anything else there. I must admit to being a big fan of the open source movement, and open source hardware really lights my candles. Again, it's that old punk ethic of making things happen for yourself.